Lake El Salto - Lake Fishing Reports
Date:
April 1st
to 30th,
2008
Name: Anglers Inn
Lake El Salto
Hottest Baits:
Water Temp :
72°-74°F
Largest Bass Caught: 11 pounds plus many bass
over 10 pounds
Comments:
Burning Crankbaits Producing Trophy Post Spawn Bass at El Salto !!
As the normal water level begins dropping due to irrigation,
anglers fishing El Salto are witnessing a phenomenon seen repeatedly
during the past 18 years. Post-spawn bass are stacking up on points,
humps and islands, and the best baits for catching them are
fast-burned deep-diving crankbaits.
Most anglers are starting their early-morning fishing sessions by
casting topwater lures. The topwater bite has picked up a notch
recently, with Rico Pops and Zara Spooks in the colors mentioned
above being the best producers. The best spots are shoreline
shallows wherever shad schools can be found.
As the morning progresses, however, topwaters go back in the
tacklebox, and its time to change over to crankbaits, swimbaits or
lizards. All these lures will catch fish if you cast them near a
school of hungry bass, but crankbaits have been super hot,
particularly the deep-diving, citrus-colored Fat Free Shad or a hot
mustard- or parrot-colored Rapala DT16. The key is burning the
crankbait fast—real fast—as guests Jack and Michael Fitch learned by
accident. Jack explains.
“It was late in the afternoon on our final day of fishing,” he says.
“We were fishing a spot that had already proven to produce good
fish, but my dad had an unfortunate accident and lost his rod and
reel over the side. I was trying to retrieve the rod and reel by
burning my deep-diving crankbait, but instead I hooked the best fish
of the trip—a nice 11-pounder.” Another father and son team, Bob and
Will Worthington, also had good luck on big bass. During three days
fishing, they landed more than 370 largemouths, including many that
fell for crankbaits. “My son Will caught bass weighing 11 pounds,
9.1, 8.8, 7.14 and 7.3,” Bob says. “The best baits were the Fat Free
Shad, 10-inch Power Worms and Storm swimbaits. Nothing could have
made our trip any better! Thank you for all you do to make the
experience world class.”
If you’re keeping track, the two big bass up to this point in our
report weighed 11 pounds each. Could there be a third 11-pounder
this month? Indeed! Al and Sandy Wells of Medford, Oregon sent a
photo of an 11-pounder they caught, too, along with this note from
Al. “We enjoyed our stay at Anglers Inn immensely,” he said. “The
food was fantastic, the camaraderie was great, and it all added up
to the best vacation we have ever had! Sandy loved the pampering and
special treatment. Say ‘Hola!’ to everyone, and tell them thanks
from both of us!” And if you thought that was all the 11-pounders
possible … well, think again. Loren Smith from California was on El
Salto with fishing partner Zack Gruner. Loren says, “I have fished
bass my whole life, and my biggest bass was 6.7 pounds. In four days
on El Salto, I caught 8.2-, 9.0-, and 10.1-pound largemouths. The
pure numbers of big bass are amazing. Most of my bass came on
deep-diving crankbaits and Storm swimbaits. Zack landed his biggest
bass of 11 pounds on a Fat Free Shad crankbait.” We had other
special guests at Anglers Inn this month, too. TV personality Larry
Dahlberg, who hosts the show “The Hunt for Big Fish,” fished both El
Salto and Lake Mateos on his recent visit. He and Jeremy Sweet from
Shimano Corporation landed more than 300 bass on film in just 1-1/2
days of fishing! Also visiting Anglers Inn were Wayne Black and Joe
Nickols, winners of an all-expenses-paid trip for two sponsored by
Florida Fishing Weekly. As you’ll understand after reading the
paragraphs that follow, these guys, like many other guests, say a
trip to Anglers Inn isn’t just about the fishing; it’s about the
whole experience.
“We arrived at Anglers Inn around noon, and cold drinks were brought
to the van as the staff took our fishing gear and baggage to the
cottage,” Wayne says. “We were asked what we wanted to drink in the
morning and if we had any special needs or requests for food or
lodging. Then, at 2 p.m., José said it was time to go fishing. He
took us and our gear to the boat where we met our guide Manuel.
Manuel asked if we wanted big fish or numbers, and we told him
numbers. We caught 63 fish the first afternoon, including several 4s
and 5s. Even the smaller ones fought like much bigger bass.
“When we came in that afternoon, we were greeted by José, Armando
and Sammy whose politeness and obvious enjoyment of working at
Anglers Inn were very plain to see,” Wayne continued. “They were
just fantastic, and it got even better when they brought the filet
mignon to our table cooked just the way we said we liked it. Then it
was off to a very clean, air-conditioned room and comfortable beds
for a great night’s sleep.”
According to Wayne, he and Joe’s first full day at El Salto started
just like the day before had ended—with great food and great
service. Then their bass fishing began in earnest.
“Manuel greeted us with a smile, and we proceeded to boat 77 quality
bass, including a lot of 3s and 4s, with several in the 6-pound-plus
range. We came back to the lodge for lunch and had an appetizer on
our way to the room to freshen up before the terrific lunch. After
lunch, it was siesta time, and we rested up for another great
afternoon. Shrimp Rockefeller for supper; need I say more?”
Day 2 included more great fishing, with Wayne and Joe landing more
than 100 bass.
“I started using 65-pound braid with a 3-foot, 20-pound Vanish
leader tied with a uni-knot,” Wayne says. “This worked very well,
even when throwing the 6-inch Storm swimbaits. We caught fish on
swimbaits, deep-diving cranks, chrome-and-blue 3/4-ounce
Rat-L-Traps, 9-inch worms, 8-inch Zoom lizards and 5-inch craws. The
colors on the worms, lizards and craws were black with blue tail or
watermelon red. The crankbaits were Fat Free Shad, white with a
green back, and Bandit watermelon-red, 16-foot divers. We also
caught a few on a Spittin’ Image white with a blue back topwater
very early. The topwater bite was just starting to get good, and by
May, I’m sure it will be a hot bite.
“Day 3 was more of the same,” Wayne continued, “and I had to put an
Ace bandage on my wrist, which was sore from setting the hook. Now
isn’t that something! We caught well over 300 bass in our three and
a half days.”
Wayne concluded by reemphasizing that great fishing is just one
facet of the El Salto experience. “It’s not just the outstanding
fishing that made this trip a bass fisherman’s dream; it’s the whole
experience, service and accommodations and, more importantly, the
people,” he says. “We were made to feel like family. And to get that
on a fishing trip … Wow! The sunsets, sunrises and scenery were
wonderful. The quiet and peaceful nights were relaxing. Think about
taking your family, too. If they like to fish or just get away to a
quiet, hassle-free place, Anglers Inn is where to take them. We’ll
be back!”
As you can see, the fishing on El Salto has been red hot. The number
of bass being caught each week by all the guests combined is in the
thousands. And these are good quality bass in the 6- to 8-pound
range, with countless more weighing 3 to 6 pounds. The bigger bass
take a little more skill and/or luck to land, but I’ve heard many
stories of “the ones that got away,” and quite a few about those 10
and 11-pounders that didn’t get away. When you come down, be sure to
come prepared with 17- to 20-pound-test line and the baits mentioned
above to improve your chances of landing the big bass of a lifetime.
And finally, with your sons and daughters getting out of school
soon, you may want to take Wayne Black’s advice and bring your
family to El Salto for a visit. That’s exactly what David Crook did
with his daughter Gabby. Dave said, “We fished for one day and
caught 50 bass. And Gabby caught the biggest fish of the day at 8.4
pounds. Gabby is just 9 years old, but she’s quite a little
fisherwoman. She caught her bass on a lizard.”
Give us a call to find out about our Summer Camp special. You and
your son/daughter won’t regret it!
Contact Us Today to Catch Trophy Bass at Lake El
Salto - Toll Free 888-479-2277
*The Mexico bass fishing season starts in September and ends in late June / July. The Amazon peacock bass season starts in October and ends in March. Contact us today to get the prime dates for your group!
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